Blood And Grace
by Mauryn
Summary: an intruder is slipping in to Curious Goods at night. But, who is she, and what are her real motives? And, what new horrors from his past will Jack Marshak have to face this time?


It was taking another risk and she knew it.

The pale girl stood over the bed of the other woman, gazing down at the form of her sleeping cousi_n._

Silly girl, leaving your window cracked open, and in a neighborhood like this one, she thought. _You n_ever_ know what creature of the night might decide to drop by..._

Still, she was grateful to have found such an easy entrance to the building that night. Turning into either mist or smoke always made her feel so queasy afterward, but it was faster than picking locks and dodging security systems, not to mention the odd over-zealous police officer.

She gently tousled Micki's red hair, smiling gratefully down at the still sleeping girl, taking care not to allow her fangs to show. Micki Foster was not her reason for being in the store tonight.

The other young occupant of the store, Ryan, was a much greater temptation for her, but she forced herself to ignore the nagging, never-ending thirst that ruled her life.

Oh, my, the young man's heartbeats were so tantalizingly strong!

The intruder slipped out of Micki's room and crept stealthily down the stairs, heading straight for the vault. It was getting harder and harder to break into this vault without leaving any trace of her visits.

The girl knew she was only fooling herself. Of course, she was leaving traces and being quite deliberate about it, too. Micki, Ryan, and certainly darling old Jack could not help but notice that some objects were mysteriously re-appearing in the Vault. They would also know they had not acquired them. It was only a matter of time before Jack began to investigate and, when he did…

She shuddered, already feeling the sharpened stake as if he were even now driving it through her heart. When the time came, the girl hoped Jack would have the strength to end her existence, himself. She hoped that he would still care enough for her to do that much, but she knew all too well the old man's opinions about her kind_._

__

It wasn't my fault, though, she fretted bitterly as she placed yet another object, a very harmless-looking wine glass from the fifteenth century into the vault, taking time to ponder its exact placement. _I didn't ask for this and I certainly didn't volunteer for it! It won't matter to him though. All of us are soulless and evil in Jack's eyes._

Once she placed the innocent-looking glass in a position where it was sure to gain attention from one of the three shop owners, the girl, known in her human life as Catherine Grace Vendredi, made her escape from Curious Goods, from her former home. She melted into the night and went in search of a little snack before bedtime. With any luck, it might even take her mind off the alluring Ryan, and Jack Marshak's pending scorn.

-

Upstairs, Micki woke with a start and could not explain why. She had not had a bad dream; a miracle for someone who led the kind of life she did. So, what was it that had awakened her?

Clutching the blanket tightly around her, Micki went to her window; the thing which was wrong did not immediately jump out at her because of her sleep-muddled senses. Suddenly, it came to her. She did not feel even the slightest breeze on her face and that was not right.

"_Wait...I know I left the window open just a little bit before I went to sleep_," she thought drowsily.

Tossing her blanket to the floor, Micki dressed as quickly as she could and ran from her room. She nearly collided with Jack Marshak on the landing.

"Micki, are you all—"

"Someone was in my room, Jack!" the redhead exclaimed, sounding more indignant than frightened.

Jack took hold of her arm, his eyes filled with concern as the lines of his mouth deepened into a frown.

"Are you sure?"

Micki nodded as Ryan joined them.

"Can you guys keep it down," Ryan stretched his arms over his head, his mouth opening wide as his eyes roll back, nearly closing as he yawned. "I can't hear myself dream. But, as long as we are up, anyone for..."

His voice trailed off, his arms dropping to his sides as he noticed the tension dense in the air.

"What's the matter?"

His eyes settled on Micki and Jack as he waited for an answer.

"Micki says someone was in her room, Ryan," the older man said briskly. "So, let's split up and search the place. And, for God's sake, be careful!"

-

The two younger people met in the main part of the shop some minutes later.

"Find anything?" Ryan asked, starting to yawn again.

Micki shook her head.

"No, nothing, but I'm sure…Wait, where's Jack?"

"Relax," Ryan said. "He's down in the vault."

Micki gaped at her cousin. The words "relax" and "vault' did not belong together in the same sentence as far as she was concerned.

Just as they were about to go down and check on him, Jack appeared from the vault and beckoned them closer.

"No sign of any intruders, I take it?" he inquired and they both shook their heads.

"Well, I have one sign for you. Come and see."

Micki did not like going into the vault in the daytime and doing it at night made her literally quake in her boots.

"You first," she told Ryan blithely, giving him a playful shove.

"So much for the liberated modern woman," Ryan grumbled.

He led the way down to where Jack stood. The three of them did not need to go far into the vault to see the newest addition to its contents.

"Another one," Jack and Ryan said together.

Silently, Micki stared at the antique drinking glass. She could almost see the darkness emanating from its depths.

"It appears we have some sort of mysterious benefactor," Jack muttered darkly as they went back upstairs.

"Well, I'm not sharing my pitiful pay with them," Ryan declared with a straight face.

Both Jack and Micki stared at him for a long moment, and then they all began to laugh.

To Be Continued...

-

A/N: Many thanks to my Beta, alexia Featherchild. any glaring errors are all mine, and not hers.

Updates to this will probably be coming soon, but the holidays are also approaching, and everyone knows how hectic they can get, sometimes.


End file.
